"Next" Magazine Vol. 3 Fall 2016 - Page 21

S T EM
I MPACT
STEM CAMP Q&A
(continued from page 19)
A: Engagement and Outreach with the community
has always been a big part of what I do as a faculty
member and my philosophy and approach to
teaching and learning. Doing activities such as STEM
Camp and Family Nights keeps me connected
to the K-12 community. I love teaching and miss it
and so this is a way that I can stay connected to the
classroom, inspire and motivate students, and work
with their families and teachers to make meaningful
connections to STEM. I also think I’m a better
professor because of the engagement work I do. I
stay connected to the schools and the community. I
have a real pulse on what the real issues are, what’s
going on in classrooms, what students are grappling
with these days, and what teachers are faced with. I
think it’s easy as a professor to get lost in our higher
ed lives; but what really matters is how we can relate
what’s happening in K-12 to the students/preservice
teachers we’re preparing.
Helping to connect our professors, especially the
STEM content professors, to the K-12 community
is also really important. Many of the STEM
content professors have a strong desire to do more
engagement work, but don’t really know how to
approach it or want to do it on a smaller scale. Doing
informal learning activities such as STEM Camp
or Family Math or STEM nights enables them to
try out new ideas on a smaller scale, get feedback
and tweak it for the next implementation. Many
of their graduate students are also involved. Most
of these graduate students have never worked in a
K-12 setting beyond their own personal experiences
with schooling. Showing them the importance of
connecting to the K-12 community (we hope) will
have a strong and lasting impact on their future as a
STEM professor.
Q: On the other side of the coin, in what ways
does having research/university-level experts work
in partnership with K-12 students/educators benefit
students?
A: I think the K-12 students and teachers benefit
from the fresh and new ideas that professors and our
preservice teachers and graduate students bring to
our engagement projects. We share our ideas and
research and they get to pilot and try new ideas with
lots of support. The K-12 community also gets to
experience first-hand STEM content from professors
who are top-notch experts in their fields. Sometimes
we come to them and sometimes they come to us.
There are not a lot of students and teachers across
the US that can say they were in a university biology
lab conducting experiments on cockroaches or
fruit flies. Or touring the latest engineering labs. Or
helping to conduct experiments at the Center for
Applied Energy Research. Just giving them positive,
authentic experiences with STEM content is a huge
benefit.
Q: In general, do you see perceptions of
mathematics changing? Are fewer students taking
the attitude of “I’m not good at math, it’s too hard,
etc…” If so, why?
A: I​ n general at a local level, I do think we are
seeing a shift in perceptions regarding mathematics,
in a positive direction. We are doing a lot of
things right in Kentucky. We’re focusing alot on
the mathematical (and science and engineering)
practices...the work of the mathematics (and STEM)
in the classroom. That’s what is going to truly
translate into real life. We also have worked hard to
put informal learning experiences into place that
help in reducing mathematics anxiety. The See Blue
Mathematics Clinic specifically targets struggling
mathematics learners. The See Blue STEM Camp
specifically targets underrepresented students
and students who are disinterested in STEM. The
Department of STEM Education has several other
projects that target giving students and their teachers
positive, authentic experiences in STEM. The more
of this we can do, the more impact we’re going to
have at the classroom and community levels.
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